Congregational Life at LCH—April, May, and June 2010

LCH Wine Tasting

LutherFest is coming in October, and the LCH wine cellar is almost empty, so members of the Mary Magdalene Society and friends journeyed over the Pali to Oeno Winemaking in Kailua to select wines for the celebration. This was the first time for LCH to patronize this shop, but owners Greg and Lindsay Patterson (who are also members of St. John Lutheran) took good care of us. Greg put his extensive knowledge of wines to work selecting about a dozen wines for the group to taste, while everyone enjoyed good fellowship and the pupu they had brought.

At left, the serious table of Jean and Jeff Lilley, Jim Cartwright, and Penny Lawhn carefully consider one of the white wines.

In the end, they selected a Chilean Carmenere and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to be bottled for LutherFest. The wines have begun to ferment, and there will be a bottling party scheduled for September. Watch for an invitation to help out.

Additional pictures are available on the LCH Facebook page.

Blogs, Awaaaay!

So who is this guy from the 1970s, and what is his picture doing here? You’ll find the answer to those question in the first post of the new blog by Kathy Crosier, our organist at LCH.

It turns out that Kathy was so excited by our communication planning meeting on June 19 that she decided she needed to do a blog documenting the behind-the-scenes story of the music planned for Carl Crosier’s final year as cantor of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. She and Bill Potter, LCH webmaster, worked together during the week to get blogging software installed on the server and set up so we can offer many different blogs as interest develops. And Kathy started writing....and writing. By Saturday she had six posts, and they were ready to go live with the music blog and another (less ambitions) blog of blogs that Bill is going to keep.

So, have you figured out who that is in the picture and what he’s up to? If not, head on over to the first post on “Another Year of Insanity: News from the LCH Music Department” to find the answer.

Bill’s blog is called simply “LCH Blogs.”

Summer Supper at IHS

Friday, June 18, and the first day of summer was right around the corner as the faithful LCH crew prepared and served dinner for the guests at IHS (The Institute for Human Services, Honolulu’s homeless shelter). As happens on the third Friday of every month, the crew gathered in the early afternoon at IHS to prepare meatloaf and then returned in the evening to serve more than 160 guests.

At left, Ilse Layau gets a pan of the cooked meatloaf ready to be served.

Other volunteers in June were Jim Cartwright, Mary-Jo Estes, and Bill Potter. Jimmy Castro was the crew chief.

Talk to Jimmy Castro if you would like to help out in a future month.

Root Beer Floats for the First Sunday of Summer

The summer schedule of one Sunday morning worship service began on June 6, and the Fellowship Committee had prepared a special treat for everyone who attended. The regular coffee hour was replaced by cool root beer floats to be enjoyed in the bright sun of Hörmann Courtyard.

At right, “soda jerks” and Fellowship Committee members, Paula Wheeler, Ray Herradura, and Jeanne Castello dish up the floats.

See more pictures from social hour on the LCH Facebook page.

Pastor Jeff’s German Adventure Begins

In a few days, members of LCH will be heading off to Germany to attend the Oberammergau Passion Play and visit Lutheran sites, but Pastor Jeff and Jean Lilley have gone ahead on their own German adventure.

It seems that a few years ago, on Jean and Jeff’s 25th wedding anniversary, they received money for a trip to Germany, but one thing led to another, and they never took the trip. So this year, they took that trip in advance of the group tour to Oberammergau. They arrived in Munich on May 26 and were met by Jean’s cousins.

After a day in Munich, they went to the Baurhof of the Möser family near Grainbach in Bavaria. In the picture at left, they have breakfast with Jean’s Aunt Myra.

You can follow Pastor Jeff’s German Adventure on Blogger.

The Sunday School Year Draws to a Close with Fun Day

The children of the LCH Sunday School ended up the school year with the annual Fun Day on Trinity Sunday, May 30. In addition to games and artistic activities, teachers provided plenty of good picnic food to make it a memorable day.

Although Sunday School will be on vacation over the summer, don’t think there will be nothing for children to do over the summer. Beginning on June 20, there will be a weekly Story Time each Sunday after worship, with reading from C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. All are welcome.

New Members Received

LCH celebrated Pentecost by receiving four new members into our church family. The new members professed their faith following the sermon and were joyously welcomed by the entire congregation.

Prior to being received into membership, they had participated with others in Pastor Jeff’s inquiry class.

The celebration continued after worship with cake in the Hörmann Courtyard.

At left, Pastor Jeff blesses the new members following their profession of faith as the congregation looks on.

LCH Celebrates Earth Day Sunday

LCH celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with a variety of events on Sunday, April 25

During both morning worship services, Peter Flachsbart provided the children’s conversation and a Temple Talk. Peter recounted his involvement with ecology and the environment—stretching back to the first Earth Day in 1970—during the Temple Talk. In his conversation with the children, he illustrated the importance of renewable energy, even getting the children to hold hands and “generate” electricity by blowing on a pinwheel.

Between services, there were Earth-Day-themed events for all ages, including creation of the banner accompanying this article by our little children.

More pictures are available in the Earth Day 2010 Slideshow.

Lutheran Night at Public Radio

Again this spring, a loyal crew of LCHers filled the KHPR studio for the Saturday evening broadcast Prairie Home Companion during the station’s semi-annual fund drive. The volunteers even took up a collection of $280.25 (Don’t ask who put in the quarter, but there’s always one in the offering plate!) to offer a Lutheran challenge during the broadcast.

Joining the hosts at the microphone were Bob Zimmer, who brought stories of childhood friend and former Prairie Home musician Butch Thompson, and Bill Potter. And the whole group was sustained by Chuck Pearson’s gourmet tuna hot dish, with two kinds of wine and three kinds of cheese, Cathy Tokishi’s oatmeal shortbread, and Bob Zimmer’s German apple cake.

Fortunately for both our LCH volunteers and the radio station, the phones were busy this spring. Our Lutheran challenge was more than matched with one phone call, and all the goals for the evening were met.

At left, Bob Zimmer and hosts Beth-Ann Kozlivich and Chad Blair on the air during one of the pledge breaks.

More information about the KHPR fund drive can be found on their website.

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Celebrating the Sixth Ark for Our Keiki

It began as a dream six years ago, and year after years the children of LCH have successfully challenged the congregation to raise $5,000 to purchase an Ark of Animals through Heifer International for poor families around the world. And for the last five years, their benefit concert has been the centerpiece of this fundraising effort.

The 2010 goal has been reached, and on Sunday, April 11, Pastor Jeff Lilley presented the sixth plaque from Heifer recognizing another year of success in meeting this challenge. This means that over the last six year, LCH has contributed $30,000 to Heifer.

During the brief ceremony after worship, Pastor Jeff also pointed out that our older youth are also giving back to the larger community by donating the proceeds from February’s Punahou Carnival parking fundraiser.

We all join in giving thanks for the wonderful and caring children of our congregation.

At right, representatives of our children accept the plaque from Pastor Jeff.

Preparing for Easter

The forty-day period of preparation for Easter reaches a crescendo on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week. “The Three Great Days,” or Triduum, see the faithful gather to experience again the mystery of our redemption.

Maundy Thursday brings to life the events of the Last Supper—Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and instituting the Holy Eucharist. Then the altar is stripped, leaving a stark stage for the events of Friday.

On Good Friday, we experience again the story of Jesus’ Passion and Death on the cross through the Gospel of St. John. This is followed by procession of the cross and adoration of the crucified.

Saturday’s Great Vigil of Easter begins in darkness with a new fire in darkness, the lighting of the Paschal Candle, and the story of our ancestors in faith through the lessons from Hebrew scripture. But we end in a blaze of light and shouts of “Alleluia!”

At left, a mother and child bring a candle to the cross at the end of Good Friday worship.

More pictures from Holy Week are available in the Holy Week and Easter 2010 Slideshow.

Holy Week Celebrations Begin with Palm Sunday

LCH began its celebration of Holy Week on March 28 with a Palm Sunday. Both morning worship services began with the blessing of palms and continued with the dramatic reading of the Passion Gospel according to St. Luke.

Between services, at 9:15, the Sunday School children hosted the entire congregation for their annual Seder Meal. The Seder is the traditional commemoration of the Passover and Exodus by Jewish families, but it is also the meal Jesus ate with his disciples at the institution of holy communion. After learning about this meal throughout Lent, the children had prepared everything for this gathering of the whole congregation.

At right, members of the congregation eat their Seder Meal.

More pictures from Palm Sunday are available in the Holy Week and Easter 2010 Slideshow.

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